The Fighting Scots welcomed the New England College Pilgrims this evening on Kanas Court for their season-opener. NEC was a force to be reckon with early, winning the first set 25-9. Not going down without a fight, the Fighting Scots battled for the following two sets but the Pilgrims edged them out, 25-22, 25-21 to take the 3-0 victory. 
 
For the Scots, Kate Howe had a team high seven kills with Jordan Shaduk close behind with six kills. Senior Ashlyn Gergins had 22 assists, while Hayley Robinson recorded 12 digs. 

How it Happened

• The Pilgrims came out strong starting the first set off with six uninterrupted points, forcing the Scots to call a timeout. The timeout break worked in Gordon's favor as NEC's Shirita Wimberly committed a service error to switch possessions. However, the Pilgrims continued to maintain the upper hand as Kenzie Barron spearheaded a 6-0 run to make it a 21-6 game before taking the eventual 25-9 W.
• The Scots' started the second frame leading 2-0 but the Pilgrims quickly answered back with two consecutive points to knot it up at 2-2. Both sides went back and forth until the Scots took a 10-6 lead. It was tight throughout as there were 12 lead changes until the score was locked up yet again at 20-all. NEC closed it out down the stretch to best the Scots by a score of 25-22 in the hard-fought battle to go up 2-0. 
• NEC jumped out 5-0, before the Scots' first charged timeout rattled the visitors' streak once again to break up the scoring threat. The Scots kept it tight, eventually cutting the deficit to three (23-20) thanks to back-to-back kills from Howe. The Scots and Pilgrims ping ponged points to finish it off, with NEC taking the 25-21 win and overall 3-0 sweep of the Scots.

Beyond The Box Score

• Kate Howe had a career-high seven kills.
• The Scots are back in action tomorrow as they travel to Henniker, N.H. to duel the Pilgrims once again at 1 p.m.